During the current project period, CCSG Developmental Funds were efficiently and productively used to fund innovative Pilot cancer research projects and provide critical support to developing Shared Resources. In the current application, YCC proposes focusing the allotted Developmental Funds entirely on the Pilot Project Program, a highly successful intramural grants program to stimulate innovative, early stage cancer research. In addition to the Pilot Projects, in which individual investigators receive funding for research projects, YCC members can also compete for funding of larger multi-Investigator projects for collaborative, transdisciplinary work. In a new program, YCC members collaborating with cancer investigators from University College London are also eligible for collaborative multi-institutional project awards, which create closer research interactions between the two Institutions. In recognition of the strategic imperative of strengthening translational research, Translational Targeted Areas of Research Excellence (T-TARE) Awards were initiated in 2011 to support translational research in cancer, requiring a collaborative effort among 3 or more YCC members. These research projects match clinical and basic scientists in ongoing productive collaborations and are designed to evolve into successful translational applications and new clinical trials. Pilot awards are intended to facilitate and expedite the maturation of individual as well as collaborative projects into external peer-reviewed funding, anchored in the YCC.